FNQ gets the jump on national frog survey

PEOPLE are being asked to hop to it and help count the number of frogs living in the Far North.

Australia’s first national frog count is underway, to map frog species and reveal where they are risk from habitat loss, disease, climate change and urbanisation.

For the massive project, the Australian Museum has released a new app, FrogID, which identifies frog species by the sounds they make, from croaks and chirps, to whistles and barks.

The sophisticated software program was developed in partnership with IBM. Frog Safe Inc co-ordinator Deborah Pergolotti, who operates an amphibian hospital at Mission Beach, said the survey would immensely help determine where conservation efforts need to be concentrated.

“If someone is recording critically endangered species in an area where they haven’t been heard before, that is valuable to researchers,” she said.

For more information about the frog survey, and to download the FrogID app, head to www.frogid.net.au V1 - CCPE01Z01MA